


Keeper [unedited]

by Jammy



Category: Neopets
Genre: Drums, M/M, Mild Language, Music, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 10:19:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8887147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jammy/pseuds/Jammy
Summary: A pretty mysterious item makes it's way into the Thieves Guild and Galem calls one of his most intelligent associates to come in and get it appraised. Though it seems that the assassin is also stumped, but not Kanrik, maybe he might be able to shed some light.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So! I wrote this out a few months ago for a friend of mine who loves the Gelert Assassin from the Darkest Faerie Game [and likes pairing him with Kanrik]. It was thanks to her and my sister that I got into the ship, honestly, and it's been hard for me to come off of that boat ever since it sailed. This is unedited, which is a bad habit of mine to not edit things.
> 
> There's a couple headcanons of mine in here [and my friend's], oops, otherwise: Enjoy!

“What the hell is it?” well, if he had an answer then he wouldn't have been staring for the last couple of minutes in pure silence.

 

The purple grarrl was getting impatient, as he does per usual, with his strong arms crossed over his chest and waiting for Jenner to answer him. The item in question was small with a diameter of 15 or 20, it had a thick frame and deep in the back had a cross bar, the assassin finally grabbed the mysterious object and looked over the carve work on the frames and then gently tapped his fingertips against the white stained leather stretched across it's face. It looked like a tambourine without the cymbals, and frankly, that's what was throwing Jenner off.

 

“I'm not sure completely,” he ignored Galem's continuing scowl to keep observing the delicate looking features in the wood. “but it looks like it could be a drum of sorts.” The next thing out of the guild leader's mouth was asking if it carried any value and if so how much, Jenner drew a slow breath in and then out to control his temperament because if he didn't know what this...thing was then what made him think he knew it's value? He turned the object around a few times in his hand, if this was a drum then it was the weirdest one he's seen and just tapping his fingers against the leather face barely drew a sound from it. Was it supposed to have such a deep tone? “It looks handmade, so it could be of some value.”

 

“Could? That means you don't know.” Galem growled turning to the side where a group of thieves had stood watching the whole ordeal with nothing but petrified faces, “Which one of you idiots brought this thing in?”

 

“I-I did.” a small cybunny said raising a hand but quickly ducked it back so it hid behind his back when the much bigger pet glared daggers down at him. “It...it um...looked interesting.” Jenner's ears picked up the doors to the treasury behind them open, glancing over at the corner of his eye he can see the familiar sway of a dark cloak and watched as the new person shook some snow off of his shoulders and boots before lowering his hood. It was Kanrik, one of Galem's best thieves. Knowing that he was being watched the gelert looks up coming eye to eye with the assassin and he just nods his head in greeting...while smiling that almost irresistible smirk, to be polite Jenner nods his head back but turns away rolling his eyes, Kanrik must make that smile to people on purpose. Still, if he was smiling this much it only had to mean that he had a good haul tonight, which might spare this group of thieves a horrible punishment from Galem.

 

Kanrik strolls up without a care nor worry past the group of rogues and empties his sack onto the table that's covered in various other treasures, Jenner can't help but be surprised—a ceremonial ruby necklace, eight coin purses made from dark silk, some silver sealers, and a very large abundance of rings and bracelets. He sees Kanrik grinning at him again so Jenner stops trying to pull an uninterested front and looks over at the younger gelert, who's grin got a little more cockier and that's when Jenner realizes that he's slipped something into his pocket. The assassin reaches in and pulls out what looks to be a ring, no, that insignia...it looks exactly like the one from the Wurthcrest manor. Jenner's grin can't be hidden and he looks over at Kanrik again as he puts the ring back into his own pocket, the Wurthcrest were known to have one of the most highest security mansions on this side of Meridel and though a lot of thieves don't ever plan on venturing even close to the west side, he has to admit that he's a little impressed with Kanrik right about now. Unfortunately the pleased look on his face gave it away and Kanrik finds himself grinning in triumph, impressing the assassin is quite the achievement, especially if one was just a 'petty thief'. Oh yeah, today has been a good day for him indeed.

 

The thief turns to leave but he immediately stops in his tracks when something on the table catches his eye, the other gelert glances down to the mysterious drum-but-not-a-drum in question and then back to Kanrik who returns a surprised glance. Jenner mimics the expression, does he know what this is? He hasn't even been paying attention to Galem up to this point, when his attention strays away from Kanrik he can finally recognize that the guild leader is rambling on about how they only steal when they know it's worth or, something or ever, he's not a thief so he cannot really say what 'golden rule' he was explaining if there ever was such a thing. Kanrik swiftly grabs the object and turns it around a few times in his hands, almost the same way Jenner did, inspecting it carefully before flipping it over to the hollow back where the crossbars were and the assassin watched carefully as he turned the bars carefully and swiftly. With his other hand he tapped against the white leather, then he'd turn the bars again, tap on the leather near the rim of it, then he'd turn the other bar the other way. He looks up at Jenner puzzled then turns to the table to move a few things around to get a better view of where the object sat before, it looks like something was missing from this weird drum. Thing. Kanrik looks around the table again, then down under it to the floor and gasps out a 'yes' before picking up a small wooden rod that had a similar light color that matched the mysterious object's rim. What in the world was this thief doing?

 

 

The room got silent as there was a deep thrumming, Galem immediately turns at the sound and his gaze looks passed Jenner's surprised expression and onto the young thief who was turning his hand up and down in quick movements creating a series of deep beats. Kanrik had his other hand pressing against the leather at the back of the strange but beautiful looking drum, Jenner watches and nods his head slowly seeing that with Kanrik's hand pressing against the leather it changed the drum's pitch and timbre. The thief bobbed his head slowly and he hummed a tune to match the tranquil, yet almost foreign, sounding music all the while his hand continued to strum the rod against the leather surface. Feeling a little more bold Kanrik grins and moves, his feet swaying to the same beat as the drum as he skips and dances across the room, around the table and the other thieves, he's thriving off of the surprised and confused glances the other rogues make while everyone in the room find themselves caught in some unsuspecting trance that made it hard for them to look away. Well, at least for Jenner it was impossible to look away because Kanrik just looks so...handsome.

 

The cocky smirk isn't on Kanrik's face anymore, what took it's place was a smile that only a truly happy pet could make and the way that he's dancing across the floor with that weird drum in his hands, creating that wonderful deep thrumming and he was humming along with it. His feet moving so fludily to their own accord matching to each deep sounding thud the drum makes, his hair swaying to the side whenever he turns or spins in a complete circle, how could he look away? It was mesmerizing... Well, at least everyone else in that room found it so...Galem? Not so much.

 

“Kanrik.” the grarrl warns, and though the thief stops dancing and he removes his hand away from the leather the strumming keeps playing on, Galem looks down at the drum in surprise but it quickly fades and smoothes out to a more pissed off expression when Kanrik turns around playfully to show that the hand that rests inside the drum around the crossbars was still tapping against the leather on the other side. “ _ **Kanrik**_.” he almost yells and finally the thief stops everything right there, the smile is replaced with a more serious glance and he clicks his tongue in annoyance. “It looks like you know what this thing is.”

 

“A little.” the thief replies sarcastically clearly upset that he didn't get to finish the song he was playing...or at the fact that no one was impressed with his little 'magic trick' with the self thrumming drum and that makes Jenner chuckle. Galem's glare doesn't falter as he asks what the object was in his hand. “A _bodhrán_.”

 

“A what?”

 

“A bod. Rhan.” Kanrik slowly spells out in a low drawn out tone, enjoying the fact that Galem's patience is waring thin and still depleting, he waves the object at the space in between him and the group of thieves and then holds it the way that he did before he started playing it. “It's a drum, from Illusen's Glade.” Jenner reaches instinctively into his satchel to pull out one of his two journals and a pencil to write down the new information, when Galem asks if it was worth anything Kanrik hisses under his breath and looks it over again, whether because it really wasn't worth much or pretending that it didn't was totally unknown. “I donno...it's handmade sure, but it was a little out of tune...” he shrugs his shoulders, “If I can get the right buyer, it'll be worth some coin at least.” Without lingering anymore Kanrik turns and leaves the treasury with the _bodhrán_ under his arm before Galem or anyone else in the room could object. Jenner, as curious as he was about the instrument, followed the thief out and had no trouble in catching up to him with his journal and pencil still in hand.

 

“This drum, the _bodhrán_ ,” Kanrik turns hurriedly on his heel, he has his other hand with the wooden stick resting against his chest as if recovering from the shock that the assassin had gave him, Jenner ignores the gesture he's too fixated on the instrument. “it derives from the word ' _bodhor_ '?”

 

“I mean, it could.” the thief answers slowing his steps so it didn't make it seem that he was rushing to get anywhere, they were still walking and from the direction Kanrik was going it was obvious that he was heading to his room that he had at the tavern here. Still, Jenner continues to follow Kanrik and though the thief's surprised at the curiosity Jenner showed for the drum he can't help but not tease him about it, for once, it wasn't often that he can share information to someone about an object that took place in his childhood. “I think in Neopian...it literally translates to 'skin tray'.” he laughs at the assassin's disgusted glance. “It's made out of petpet skin, don't worry, it's not _**that**_ weird of an instrument.” Kanrik watches as Jenner quickly scribbles the information down and he raises a brow at the note taking, “So...” he doesn't really know how to ask, kindly--if that, so he decides to just come out and say it. “Why are you writing all of this?”

 

“Because I've never came across an instrument like this before, I think it's beneficial if I remember it.” he answers truthfully, tucking the pencil into the page and closes the journal until Kanrik stops him by holding out his hand. The assassin stops moving all together, he's staring a questionable gaze to the thief standing there with his palm out because he won't let anyone touch any of his journals. Slowly, Jenner gives in, he hands the journal to Kanrik and in return the thief lets him hold the _bodhrán_. Kanrik hums the same tune he was humming before as he flips through the pages of the journal until he comes across the one that spoke of the drum, grabbed the pencil that was tucked in between the pages against it's spine and when he found the small blank space he began to draw? Jenner watches carefully, the thief starts with a perfect circle, then another, he began to add some lines and small swirls to copy the drum's carvings and in a matter of seconds the thief had sketched out a perfect drawing of the instrument, shadows included.

 

“Here.” Kanrik said handing the book back to Jenner who stood with jaw a gaped. The thief grins some more, grabbing the drum from his hand and then using his other hand to close Jenner's mouth by pressing his chin upwards, “It might be easier to remember it if you have a drawing of it.” with those words the thief walks away leaving the assassin at a loss for words.


End file.
